This page is made as a holiday report as future reminiscence for myself.
So, don’t expect a professional blog nor professional pictures and video. It’s just made out of hobby, nothing more nothing less.
If by chance you want to contact me, please go to the contact page and I will reply as soon as possible if a reply is wanted.
In October of 2024 I have been on my first ever long intercontinental holiday by myself. I have had a long time interest in Japan, so I chose this to be my “midlife crisis” trip. To make this trip the most unique I could think of within my capabilities, I decided to explore the option of going on a multiday motorcycle tour.
After a lot of searching and contemplating I settled on trying to make this dream trip come true with working together with RushCorp / Ninjatours. This as they had high star reviews and they are based in Japan. ( During the entire process they made those high star reviews more than true! )
During the planning phase they were very helpful and professional. They made sure the plan was not too extreme with keeping an eye on the distance needed to be traveled each day, this so they would not become too long. Based on the type of rider you are, you will have more or less time to hang around certain locations. For me, I am more a relaxed on the careful side type of rider. So, I took it easy where I wanted or needed to and just overall went with the flow.
The eventually planned trip you can see on the map on the right. The planned trip is shown in light/dark green colors. The red/orange colors is the route I eventually took, logged by the GPS in my mobile phone.
The tour was 20 days long, crossing over 4500km over the main island of Japan.
Total stats based on incomplete mobile phone GPS logging
Total Distance = 4485 km
Total Time, including breaks/sightseeing = 129:48:27
Total Time, riding = 96:56:37
Max Speed = 118.4 km/h
Max Altitude = 2186 m
Total Ascend = 70801 m
Total Decent = 60384 m
Summary per day
I arrived around 11:00 o’clock on the 8th of October at Narita airport after a 14 hour flight and 1,5 hours travel towards the airport in The Netherlands. After landing it was time to head to the motorcycle rental office as soon as possible to go over the tour plan and do the last preparations for the next day.
It was great to meet Rodger and his wife at RushCorp! They are very friendly people who gave me confidence it would become a amazing and successful upcoming tour.
After spending well over 2 hours there the time came to goodbye to them for today. After such a long day it was time to find some dinner, and what better to start with than a safe choice, ramen (which I had at ラーメン 尹 善栄), something easy but very tasty.
Side notes on the following days:
- This motorcycle tour is the first time I really got to use the Insta360 X4.
During the first day there are some parts with bad visibility due to fogging up of the protective lens. Videos on other days I didn’t used those protective lenses, so besides some rain drops images should be mostly okay.
I naturally also forgot to stop recording at some parts, and also was not able to record others due to low battery and/or low storage.
Besides the fogging up on the first day and the battery/storage issues due to my own fault there are three videos on day 16 which were not recorded in 360 degree video for some reason. This was not set by me, and I haven’t been able to reproduce what happened. (two of these files have been repaired by Insta360 as of May 2025. Still one to go, hopefully they can repair the last one as well)
I just uploaded all the videos as is. This also means that all videos are unedited raw full length videos. Maybe some time in the future I will make a summary video. - In the text of every day a link is placed to the full YouTube video playlist of that day. The playlist should also be visible in the top right corner of each YouTube linked video.
- Clicking on the title text of each day will bring you to the website of the hotel I stayed in that night.
YEAH, first day of the ride! The first kilometers on a Japanese roads ever, first time on this Motorcycle (codename “Dobi”) a BMW F750GS 2023 and first time riding on the left side of the road on a motorcycle.
In the beginning I was guided by Rodger (owner RushCorp) From RushCorp through Tokyo to the highway I needed to take to start my tour.
He did this to make sure the first part in Tokyo would go as smooth as possible. Even though the motorcycle has navigation, I still appreciated it a lot that Rodger took his time to guide me the first part, especially with the rainy weather.
After about 20 minutes we have arrived at the highway I needed to take, and I went my own way to really start my solo tour!!
The beginning part of this day I needed to cover some distance to get away from Tokyo to the more interesting areas to ride in. So the first few videos are mostly me riding on the highways.
Part 4 video is the video where I am really away from the highway starting to go onto some more twisty roads and even more twisty.
It was a fantastic day of riding no matter the rain and fog! It probably even added to the atmosphere in certain parts of the route. Luckily at the end of the day the weather cleared up creating great views with the reflection of the sunlight through the clouds on the wet nature and buildings.
Naturally this day I needed to get used to the motorcycle as I am used of riding a Suzuki V-Strom DL650 from 2011 so a quite different category of motorcycle, especially if you look at the age/technology difference. As I am from the Netherlands riding in the Japanese hills and mountains was also a new experience on itself. This as there are not many opportunities to ride on twisties in mountains, or even decent sized hills in the Netherlands or nearby.
The stay at the first hotel, Kinugawa Onsen Wakatake no sho was splendid! Very special first ryokan experience. Arriving at the ryokan a part of the staff was standing outside waiting for guests to arrive, they guiding me to a near entrance parking spot and all welcomed me. At the hotel a staff member explained the hotel facilities and the room, she was also the one who served dinner and breakfast the next day.
The dinner and breakfast was served in a private room in the hotel restaurant which for me felt extra special as I was alone on this tour so I was also sitting there alone. It can feel strange at first, but the experience I have had when traveling alone, when you are, you will be able to meet the most people. This was no exception as the staff member, who was apparently appointed to me, and I were able to have some nice conversations in the time she had during work.
Overall great hotel, fantastic food (miss all food I had to this day), very relaxing to be able to get into an onsen after a days ride, and the stereotype of the great service and kindness of the people of Japan was instantly confirmed on during this first day of the tour!
GPS stats of this day, some parts can be missing as I sometimes forgot to start the GPS logging for some time:
Distance = 230.2 km
Duration = 06:37:28 | 05:06:10
Max Speed = 96.7 km/h
Avg Speed = 34.7 | 44.9 km/h
Max Altitude = 1306 m
Total Ascend = 3958 m
Total Decent = 3609 m
After the breakfast it was time to pack up and leave the hotel to start the day 2 route.
Leaving the hotel started with a first time experience again of the staff seeing you off/waving you goodbye. It felt special but awkward at the same time, as I am not used of people waiting on me to be able to wave me goodbye.
After leaving and having to merge on the road from the hotel I needed to double and triple check to start riding on the left side of the road, as it was the second day I was not used to riding on the left yet.
At one moment during the route I came across a small tree laying across my side of the road, tried to move it but failed. Hopefully nobody drove into it at a later moment.
This route had a lot of variation in road styles, though quite dense forests, small towns, rice field, twisties and decent ascend/descends and so on.
Overall another great day of riding, a lot of different sights and road/weather conditions.
The accommodation of today was nice, I only had to get somewhat used to sleeping on a western style bed again, after a few days of sleeping on a futon. Both very comfortable, but for a guy of about 185cm the futon blankets I used during this holiday, all were a bit short. Placing them diagonally luckily made them long enough and comfortable.
GPS stats of this day, some parts can be missing as I sometimes forgot to start the GPS logging for some time:
Distance = 178.6 km
Duration = 06:08:19 | 04:30:31
Max Speed = 77.5 km/h
Avg Speed = 29.1 | 41.2 km/h
Max Altitude = 1286 m
Total Ascend = 3314 m
Total Decent = 3850 m
This was a quite intense day of riding due to quite a lot of twisties which were even more difficult due to the dense clouds to ride through. (like, see video day 3 part 3 at around minute 50)
At Michinoeki Tsuchiyu Ogatasharyo Parking Lot where I took a short break, in the hope of seeing some further views then I had so far during the day. Sadly enough I was not able to. But while walking around there, an elderly woman started talking to me while I was looking around, and after us trying to have some form of communication without me being able to speak Japanese and she hardly any English, she started saying many times that I was a “handsome boy” before she walked back to her car (where her I assume husband was waiting in for her as I saw someone sitting in the car already), grabbed an massive (and very tasty) apple and walked back to me to give it to me. Complimenting me a few times again while walking back. I thanked her several times for her kind gestures and her compliments and wish her a great day and health when she left. One of the wholesome random experiences I had in my time in Japan, definitely one to remember.
Even though luck was not in my favor quite a bit today in the sense of clouds blocking the views, I was happy to see that on a part of the Bandai Azuma Skyline road I was able to enjoy quite some decent view, with some fall colors included. A special area and nice road that I for sure will visit again some day.
Also when arriving at the Okama Crater, Zao High Line Parking Lot, it didn’t look hopeful for me to be able to see the crater in it’s full glory. But luck changed a bit, I needed to be patient but, for a short time, the clouds broke open a bit making me able to see it. And what a sight! and actually the clouds had an effect that probably made it even better than with full sunshine.
While leaving Okama Crater it was already around 16:30 which meant, not a lot of time to get to the hotel as normally the idea is that you are able to reach to hotel between 16:00 and 17:00 o’clock. But according to Google maps, it was still about 24km/47 minutes to reach to hotel.
I only stopped at one other point to make a picture on my way downhill towards the hotel. But as it also was getting dark rapidly so I didn’t want to take too much time, next to the fact I don’t like to arrive (too) late at the hotel. The darkness is not really visible as the camera was still able to correct for it when arriving at the hotel of the day.
GPS stats of this day, some parts can be missing as I sometimes forgot to start the GPS logging for some time:
Distance = 262.2 km
Duration = 08:09:48 | 06:24:30
Max Speed = 94 km/h
Avg Speed = 32.1 | 42.4 km/h
Max Altitude = 1764 m
Total Ascend = 6194 m
Total Decent = 6134 m
This was a quite relaxed day, smooth roads, nice weather and just overall pleasant. Sadly enough a part of the planned route was blocked for all traffic. Most likely due to a landslide or other road damage. Luckily the GPS helped me to follow a different route to the next waypoint. This did take me over more the main roads, which is a shame as I like the mountains and twisties more, but still enough to see and explore.
Like getting fuel at a self service station. Definitely a experience on it’s own when you do that in a country you don’t know the language and their self service stations on average make less sense to me than any I have seen and used in Europe. Way too many options, and the machine talks to you, naturally in Japanese, which is for sure not the most helpful for a foreigner 😉
Also had a tasty snack on the way at the Otaki Drive In Izumiya after having a look at the Sekiyama Waterfall which was located behind/below the Drive In. the snack was something like a mitarashi dango, but it was not exactly the same, so it was probably a variant of it, which I don’t know the name of.
As it was also quite hot, especially in the motorcycle gear I couldn’t help to treat myself also to a soft ice cream cone. Man, I miss the food over there….. everything I had taste better and less sweet/more savory then here in The Netherlands.
At this roadside store while buying the ice-cream another interesting small talk conversation started with the store clerk, naturally of where I came from and what my plan was and so on. Even with the language barrier, quite a lot of people are willing and start to talk to you as a tourist. Some start to full on ramble to you in Japanese as if they expect you to be fluent, but others try their hardest to make themselves clear with the English the know. (Which is much appreciated, as I have tried to learn Japanese, but it is hard to let it reach a conversational point. I’m still trying in the time I have….)
At the end of the route I first stopped at the wrong hotel. This as the GPS already showed I arrived at the right location. After walking in the hotel and finding out it was the wrong hotel, one of the employees walked out with me for quite a bit to point me to the right direction. The hotel was close (+/- 400m away) by but still worth enough to ride the motorcycle to. So about two minutes later I arrived at the hotel today, which had a very local/traditional feeling. The Onsen also was used by the locals so that also added to the “real Japan” feeling. And surprisingly both owners spoke quite well to very good English so during dinner and breakfast the next day I had some nice conversations with them. Them learning about me and my tour, and I learned quite a bit about the (recent) history of the location “Sato Ryokan”
GPS stats of this day, some parts can be missing as I sometimes forgot to start the GPS logging for some time:
Distance = 184.5 km
Duration = 06:53:41 | 04:13:02
Max Speed = 84.5 km/h
Avg Speed = 26.8 | 44.0 km/h
Max Altitude = 530 m
Total Ascend = 2871 m
Total Decent = 2980 m
At breakfast I had natto for the first time, and surprisingly it was way tastier than I expected. The texture was weird and slimy, for sure something to get used to, but the flavor was above expectation!
After a nice stay with great food at the Nuruyu Onsen Sato Ryokan, it was time to move on again, with the day starting quite chilly at the hotel compared to the other days but sunny and directly with some nice twisties!
Not long after starting the days ride it was time to do a small “hike” down the hill to 小安峡大噴湯. Definitely a interesting part of nature, especially if you have never seen geothermal steam and things like that in real life. I arrived there luckily when not many people were down there. I can imagine that it can be quite crowded there.
Before leaving I had a small conversation with a Japanese man who was on holiday with his family with a classic Volkswagen T3 I think it was. He was apparently a fellow motorcyclist, so we had some small motorcyclist talk.
This day was also nice due to the very tasty soft serve ice-cream I was able to get at Yuda Milk, I really like the not too sweet flavor of this ice cream, way way better than the overly sweet (soft) ice cream you can get here in The Netherlands… (another thing I miss from not being in Japan anymore 😔)
As this ice cream cone was very tasty, I couldn’t help myself to try one more at a different location about an hour from the end of the route, at Mitakai Roadside Station.
Nearing the east coast, it was clear that at certain locations massive structures have been build as a defense against tsunamis. I didn’t expect to see these type of structures during my time in Japan, but seeing them and especially the designs and just the sheer size of the walls and gates, definitely gives an impression on where they have to deal with and prepare for.
As a nice surprise, I was lucky enough to be able to witness a very nice sunset after arriving at the hotel for this night, hotel Ragaso.
GPS stats of this day, some parts can be missing as I sometimes forgot to start the GPS logging for some time:
Distance = 271.1 km
Duration = 07:06:43 | 05:30:24
Max Speed = 96.7 km/h
Avg Speed = 38.1 | 51.3 km/h
Max Altitude = 775 m
Total Ascend = 3753 m
Total Decent = 4048 m
This was an interesting day, not only due to the viewing of a great sunrise in the land of the rising sun, the great ride itself and seeing the mix of all different colors of the starting of fall, but also due to some fuel shortage stress. I made the mistake of, when at a fuel station the pump didn’t seem to work, trusting that another fuel station will still be up ahead. I assumed, as I still had quite some fuel in the tank, that it would be enough for the whole distance of today, but I wanted to fuel up just in case. I did eventually pass fuel stations, which where marked on the map. But all were closed….
Naturally due to the anxiety that came up while seeing the fuel gauge get lower and lower I made a additional mistake causing me to need to turn around for some time as I went the wrong way (This definitely caused me to curse a bit). After some time I arrived back on a route that made sense to me, which I followed to Aomori. Luckily it was quite a nice distance going downhill which I used to my best ability to my advantage to reduce the fuel consumption. After some stressful time while still trying to enjoy the views/sights as much as possible I was able to arrive in Aomori, where I naturally fueled up as soon as possible.
Even with the anxiety I had today, it was a fantastic ride and also a great experience overall 😉
As I made decent progress with covering the distance today, I made a small detour to 昭和大仏 (青龍寺) – Showa daibutu Seiryu-ji Temple after fueling up. The first large temple complex I visited in Japan, and what a sight it is! There was a lot too see, too much for the time I had given myself for this. At the time I arrived there, hardly any people were there, so it was quiet and peaceful, just as I think it should be/feel.
The day started with looking at a great sunrise looking over Japans eastern shore. The day ended with viewing a fantastic sunset at the northern shore of Japan. Looking from Asamushi Umizuri Park over the Aomori-/Mutsu Bay, while the sky being clear enough to even being able to see Mount Iwaki in the far distance.
After the sunset I returned back to the Nambuya Kaisenkaku Hotel to be surprised with another great dinner (like all locations so far) but this location had something special, as after the dinner the guests were treated to a show with some performances showing a bit of the local Nebuta Festival and Tsugaru shamisen music including the dances.
GPS stats of this day, some parts can be missing as I sometimes forgot to start the GPS logging for some time:
Distance = 228.7km
Duration = 07:16:07 | 05:19:05
Max Speed = 94.3 km/h
Avg Speed = 31.5 | 45.8 km/h
Max Altitude = 1024 m
Total Ascend = 4162 m
Total Decent = 4152 m
First part of the ride stared with tracking back the same route as I already had ridded the day before. This due to going the wrong direction and ending up on the part of the route I actually only should have done today. This time only noticing other sights and naturally also stopping at other places. One of which had a nice view over Aomori in the direction of the hotel which I left today.
The ride itself was again beautiful without a doubt. I love the mountain roads, the nature in general, but especially due to the mix of fall and summer colors. For some reason it brings me a massive feeling of being at peace.
One part brought me on the road traveling through the Oirase Gorge where many larger and smaller waterfalls could be found within this forest area, which had a special vibe to it, but due to quite a lot of tourist for my feeling a part of the mysterious vide it could have was lost. But still beautiful to see and visit!
After riding a bit furter I sat down at a small café next to Lake Towada, called Towadako Marineblue where I surprisingly, next to some iced tea, had an apple pie of all things, but home made with the tasty Fuji apples from Aomori Prefecture. 😊
Saving the best for last, quite a few kilometers further having been ascending up a mountain, I reached a point with fantastic views, the highest point of the road of Mount Hachimantai. What a view!! on a clear day maybe even better but still, it was clear enough to see very far! This mountain and it’s road is one of many places I want to visit again!
At the cerulean-aoni resort, which was my hotel for this evening I had a very tasty dinner (it’s getting repetitive 😅) this time Japanese hotpot as main dish with not one, not two, but three flavor broths, and a load of other dishes. As I was quite tired after today, I treaded myself to a three flavor plate of local sake… that stuff always goes down nicely… and it is very interesting how much differences you can taste between sakes.
Naturally having a dinner like this needs some resting afterwards before doing something else. That something else was, just like the other days, enjoy the onsens. A perfect relaxing ending of a day on a motorcycle. Onsens are one of the many things I still miss daily while writing these texts.
GPS stats of this day, GPS Data mostly incorrect due to GPS logging errors on my Phone. Only written down what somewhat made sense:
Distance = +/- 245 km
Duration = 08:07:24 | 07:28:22
Max Speed = xx.x km/h
Avg Speed = xx.x | xx.x km/h
Max Altitude = +/- 1570 m
Total Ascend = xxxx m
Total Decent = xxxx m
It was a rainy start of the day, which didn’t bother me as having good gear can make up a lot of things. Like not getting soaking wet while riding in the rain is a blessing, and makes riding in the rain quite enjoyable for me actually. The only thing is that some parts of the road can be unexpected quite slippery, or expected when leaves are all over the place.
For this day I was warned, even before leaving Tokyo, that some parts of this route might not be open due to landslides/road damage. Which as you can see on the map above was true for a part of the route. The red line shown above in the picture is the route I eventually took.
The GPS needed some time to reroute and in the meantime while following the GPS, I checked the map myself as well for the nicest route I could find. It was probably quite a nice part I missed, but as with everything this trip, all is new for me so all part of the adventure, which I have enjoyed like never before!
Also during this ride I had the best of luck with heading up to some decent altitude on a mountain and arriving in the clouds, so hardly anything was visible. But this time the clouds weren’t so dense that I wasn’t able to see any view luckily. and the views that I had were great in my opinion, the clouds might even have made them better. I do hope I will be able to visit again and head up this mountain during a clear day.
At the top of Mount Chokai on route 131, I took a small break where after some time I happen to land in a conversation between two fellow motorcyclists, one man clearly older than me, and a woman about my age or younger. Both where on the road for quite a few kilometers. As the man didn’t really speak any English, the woman acted a bit like the translator, but mostly she and I had a small talk. The woman was out on her own to go on a small weekend motorcycle camping trip on her classic motorcycle. Sadly enough I don’t remember the brand and type, but as that is irrelevant for the idea behind her just going out enjoying life, that’s just perfect!
And I’m jealous for her being able to do so there, I can do that as well in The Netherlands, but I prefer Japan well above The Netherlands for doing so…
Short conversation later, we all went our own way.
After having completely descended Mount Chokai, the weather cleared up and was actually pretty nice. This made me wonder if it would have been better for me to wait on top of the mountain a bit longer. But after riding further and looking back at Mt. Chokai it was still completely covered with clouds. So no regrets there 😉
During the last break I took at a FamilyMart before reaching the hotel, I saw two tourist from Australia trying to get a ride hitchhiking. By the looks of it they were already standing there trying for quite some time. I decided to walk up to them to ask if they needed anything to make life a bit more comfortable. They both mentioned they didn’t, so I wished them good luck and a nice day. While I walked away from them, a woman who I just saw inside the FamilyMart and was packing her stuff in her car, stopped doing so and started walking to the hitchhikers and took them with her. I guess, maybe me as a random motorcyclist checking up on those two other tourist made that Japanese woman notice them. I have no idea. I’d like to think me walking there did help them a bit. They were placing their stuff in the Japanese woman’s car while I continued on again.
In the final stretch there where some great views over the rice fields due to the lighting effects caused by the slowly setting sun and the clouds. They say Japan is the land of the rising sun, but to be honest, the most beautiful views so far I have been able to see during sunset.
Arriving at the hotel, staff was standing outside, and directly guided me to park Dobi exactly in front of the main entrance which looked a bit like a small Japanese stone garden. (click here for the part of the video I ride “into the hotel”)
One thing is for sure, the Japanese know how to spoil motorcyclist on a trip! Practically everywhere they make sure you can park sheltered and close to entrances. Not only by hotels, but also at service stations next to the highway for example.
Also the food here was just as exceptional as the previous hotels. All have their own style and flavor but the quality in general is just ridiculously good.
GPS stats of this day, some parts can be missing as I sometimes forgot to start the GPS logging for some time:
Distance = 227.7 km
Duration = 07:03:59 | 04:58:30
Max Speed = 83.1 km/h
Avg Speed = 32.2 | 47.7 km/h
Max Altitude = 1185 m
Total Ascend = 3128 m
Total Decent = 3652 m
Today started again with another tasty and complete breakfast. After packing up everything I was ready to go and manoeuvre Dobi out of the hotel to start the ride of today. While exiting and leaving the hotel multiple staff members waved/bowed me goodbye something I probably never will be able to really get used to. Way too much service compared to anything I have been used to before (especially as I normally just went camping or to an Airbnb on my previous holidays).
Todays ride had fantastic weather, especially good for a coastal ride as the first part was. Beautiful views, almost feeling like summer. Which temperature wise it was, as the day already started with a comfortable 18/19°C.
The first part was an easy and relaxing ride, where I also had a small conversation with a fuel station employee as he asked me some questions while filling up the tank. Overall such nice people, even when you don’t speak the language, so far everyone has tried to make it work, to have some form of conversation.
After about 3,5 hours riding the coast and city riding switched to more and more riding on the twisties in the hills/mountains again, there is where all fun parts come together! especially when the roads become more narrow.
One thing I am also still surprised about is how fast the road style can change. One moment you ride on a two lane road with easily 70 to 80 km/h a second later you ride on a one lane narrow road like here for example.
Today was also the day of riding to the top of the Tagokura Dam and riding the roads behind it (六十里越峠). Man! what a great piece of road to ride, for sure a feat of engineering. Beautiful views, and this time without any clouds in it’s way, so I was full on enjoying the ride.
After finishing the mountain pass, it was only about 30 minutes left to ride to the hotel.
A nice hotel with several different onsen, only here the concept was different, as you reserved your time in the onsen by walking in when it was not in use. So it was not a common onsen where you share the bath like the other locations I had stayed.
Also the dinner and breakfast was different than at other locations, as these both were served in your hotel room. The room was large enough and you had your own dining table. This hotels concept feels like it is meant for people who want private relaxation. Which is actually quite nice that hotels like this one exist.
To go against the more private vibe of the hotel, while dinner was being served I had a small talk with the staff member bringing me the dinner, she could speak English surprisingly well and as she mentioned she was working towards going to study in America, she was quite glad to be able to try out some English. After a short talk as she was working and dinner was served, I enjoyed the delicious food relaxed in solitude. Quite a unique but nice experience on it’s own, having dinner in your own hotel room instead of a restaurant or dining hall.
As usual the day ended with a comfortable visit to the Onsen to soak all muscle fatigue away.
GPS stats of this day, some parts can be missing as I sometimes forgot to start the GPS logging for some time:
Distance = 316.5 km
Duration = 07:50:19 | 06:24:33
Max Speed = 91 km/h
Avg Speed = 40.4 | 51.1 km/h
Max Altitude = 780 m
Total Ascend = 3894 m
Total Decent = 3624 m
The trip today started off with a good wake-up for both me and Dobi, as leaving the hotel instantly caused us to need to climb a short but quite steep incline. No time for any warmup, poor Dobi 😔
After leaving the hotel I needed to cover some distance, so it was time to head to the highway. During riding on the highway it was quite apparent that around the towns I passed some type of smog was hanging. At a point you can even see the smoke rising up from a industrial building and being hold back from rising further creating smog. I never have seen this so clearly so it was a interesting sight to see. On the video recording it is hardly visible, but on the left side you can see the smog hanging over the town. These were no clouds or normal mist. Besides that, the sun was too powerful for clouds, so a great start of the day.
After the highway, it was time to head towards the Start of the Uonuma Skyline and what a road and view it has! With this clear weather you could see very far, and the winding on average quite narrow roads (for a car) made this part of the route one to remember.
Next it was time to head to the road with the Highest Point of Japan’s National Routes (292) which I noticed clearly that it was higher than any place I have been in Japan. Not only by the length of ascending but also by the density…. you already guessed it…. the density of the clouds… 😂🥲 Luckily there is something like Google Streetview to see how it can look on a clear day. Japan has it’s way of getting you to want to visit again, if only to see the sights you were not able to see. And I will definitely go back, mark my words!
I had some hope I might be able to walk to the Yugama Observation Deck, but also there it was naturally too cloudy to see anything and the parking lot was blocked off, so I just continued on, ascending the mountain to have more time to look around in the next town (Kusatsu) and hotel.
As Kusatsu is quite a famous place, it was busy with a lot of tourists and decent long lines for going into some of the attractions. As I didn’t feel like waiting in long lines, I just roamed around the town center, the shops and the steaming streams of lightly sulfur smelling water passing through the town center and nearby park.
After another fabulous dinner, it was time to jump into the onsens again (Do not literally jump!!) This hotel had quite a few different styles of baths, one hotter than the other, several inside and outside. All were a joy to get into and just relax. Another splendid end of a day full of mountains, towns, highway, sunshine, clouds and rain.
(…I wish I could make this my job riding around exploring… what a life!)
GPS stats of this day, some parts can be missing as I sometimes forgot to start the GPS logging for some time:
Distance = 181.2 km
Duration = 05:24:41 | 04:18:08
Max Speed = 101.7 km/h
Avg Speed = 33.5 | 43.5 km/h
Max Altitude = 2186 m
Total Ascend = 4150 m
Total Decent = 3272 m
Todays ride stared off cloudy again, but luckily it broke open every now and then, which resulted in some, in my opinion, fantastic looking cloud formations. It was also the day of riding the Venus Line a great ride through the mountains, where, if you are lucky, you can see mt. Fuji in the far distance on at least one viewing point. For me I didn’t have this chance as, you guessed it, clouds blocked the view… but during this ride I did have some amazing views
When arriving at the Roadside Station Utsukushigahara Kogen Parking Lot at the Utsukushigahara Open Air Museum it was very cloudy and windy (one parked motorcycle even had fallen over due to the wind, see in the distance on the left, after noticing that I rotated Dobi so it would be more secure in the wind ).
The wind speed was so fast you could see the clouds racing over, So I decided to stay a while, roam around in the shop while hoping for the sky to clear up. And Luckily it did! And what a amazing view it was from there.
At the moment I decided to continue on with the route, multiple motorcyclists also were packing up to go, me as one of the only foreigners there, caused some conversations to sprak up with some fellow young motorcyclists (the two on the right standing together in blue and black gear). Which is always fun to struggle through with the always present language barrier. Great and nice guys, that’s for sure!
As I arrived somewhat early at Matsumoto, I decided to go off route to see if I could find a parking spot to check out Matsumoto Castle. After some searching I parked it close to an entrance of the castle grounds near a row of other motorcycles. (hoping and assuming it was okay to park there)
After playing the typical tourist again while roaming around on the castle grounds, I decided to add a some extra distance to my walking adventure by heading into town as well. While walking there I (sadly enough) came across a group of Dutch people…. wherever you go, you hardly can get away from them… they are everywhere!! 😒😅 That being said, for a touristy place like that area, it was quite okay to walk around in and for a city it looked nice.
I didn’t make a picture of it, but it was quite fun to see that on a square between some buildings a mixed age group of locals were playing bingo together.
After that small detour to the castle and the town center, it was time to move on again to the hotel. This took about 15 minutes, this mostly due to the way the traffic lights work in quite a few places in Japan and naturally because it was busy.
This time, arriving at the hotel, I again could take care of Dobi aswell, as Dobi could be parked in the roofed parking garage of the hotel.
GPS stats of this day, some parts can be missing as I sometimes forgot to start the GPS logging for some time:
Distance = 193.7 km
Duration = 07:38:27 | 05:37:08
Max Speed = 87 km/h
Avg Speed = 25.4 | 36.1 km/h
Max Altitude = 1981 m
Total Ascend = 4867 m
Total Decent = 5412 m
Today was way more chilly then the other days until now. Yesterday temperatures reached up to 26 to 28°C, today the coldest I have seen on the motorcycle temperature gauge was 8°C. When I left the hotel it was around 13°C so I thought the temperature will rise up later during the day. But instead of rising up, it went down for quite some time. So, after about 1,5 hours of riding from Matsumoto into the mountainous area again, through tunnel upon tunnel, upon bridge, upon a dam… I stopped to add the “winter layer” to my jacket as it became too cold.
It was clear that a part of the route passed some mineral/sulfur rich water streams, which made the water look quite in contrast with the rocks in the stream and the surrounding (start of) fall colored nature.
At a moment I was worried that my luck was running out again with the decent enough clear weather, but luckily it was only a small part today that ended up being blocked by the clouds.
After a nice ride I passed through Takayama city. I did look for a parking spot but after seeing all the shops and the amount of people I decided to switch out the battery of the 360 camera as it just died on me, and just continue the ride.
Some distance covering, but sometimes quite welcome, highway I arrived at the UNESCO world heritage site of Shirakawa-go. Here I walked around for some time, but it was for me quite underwhelming, yes it looked nice, but it was for my feeling too much adjusted for tourists (to make money) and too little about the heritage itself. Maybe I looked in the wrong way, but that is how it felt when I was there. Having said that, also this was an experience on it’s own, and I am glad that I have been there. (One part I also enjoyed was the amount of motorcycles on the parking lot, was practically a small motorshow)
While still being quite chilly (11°C), the sun came out and everything combined, the road, the nature, and sun became a great continuation of the route after leaving Shirakawa-go.
On part of the route coming up, I was really wondering if it was the right way, but it was and it was a fun ride. Definitely one where I needed to pay attention due to debris (leaves, small rocks, moss,…) on the road but especially as it was a two way road even though it’s width doesn’t show it. Besides that it was also a quite beautiful part with nice views here and there. So only plus points!
A bit later, around 14:00, I took a break to eat something as I didn’t eat anything after breakfast. While eating at the motorcycle, I noticed three kids alone in a white family car nearby. This is of course not perse strange or noteworthy, except that in this case it was clear that the boy was being bullied by his, as far as I thought to see, somewhat older sisters. At first this was just light bulling so I just kept an eye on them but didn’t do anything. This until the oldest sister started beating the boy on his head and other points. At that moment I walked to the car (which had the window slightly open) and I did my best to get their attention and make her stop. After a few (but too many seconds) she stopped and, even though sometimes still tried to do something to him, she didn’t as it was clear she didn’t liked to be noticed while bulling. The boy and the other girl tried to talk to me though te window but due to the language barrier I didn’t understand, and I also kept my distance as I didn’t want to come across to other people around as a possible criminal towards kids. I stayed there for some time until I really had to go looking at the time. But luckily as I was maneuvering on the parking lot, the I guess parents came back. All the kids seemed to be in a better mood again when I left, so I left with comfort in my mind as they seemed to be okay and there parents were back.
From there it was continuing on, on at times quite windy part of highway, but for a highway it definitely had some nice views. Overall a great day with a bit of everything, from cloudy to full on sunshine, from rice field roads, to mountain roads, from highway to twisties, bridges, dams and tunnels (a lot of tunnels 😉)
The day ended near sunset with arriving at Yamanaka Onsen Hana Tsubaki like all hotels so far, also a great location. This time with the most ridiculous large hotel room, with multiple rooms, large entrance hallway, own two(+) person private onsen/Hinoki bath, bathroom and balcony. And that only for one person this night 😅…
But not to forget they also have a great common outdoor onsen/Yubata bath, which I naturally also used…. what can life be relaxing some times😊
GPS stats of this day, some parts can be missing as I sometimes forgot to start the GPS logging for some time:
Distance = 309.1 km
Duration = 08:30:00 | 06:57:58
Max Speed = 106.7 km/h
Avg Speed = 36.4 | 46.1 km/h
Max Altitude = 1448 m
Total Ascend = 4231 m
Total Decent = 4760 m
The day started off well…. as I found out that I couldn’t power on my Cardo Packtalk Neo anymore even though I know it was fully charged. just a short blink of a red light, and nothing. I contacted the place I bought it from, just to let them know I have some issues, in the hope they might have some ideas. Sadly enough, the only option was to send it back, Cardo themselves also mentioned the same. I send it back when I arrived back home from Japan. But in the meantime, the rest of the days I didn’t have any audio navigation, only visual navigation on the screen of the Garmin mounted on the motorcycle.
It is a bit more difficult to follow the navigation correctly, especially where it is busy. But that’s part of the fun of a tour like this, things happening and having to deal with them as they come.
Besides the headset issue, the day started of with great weather, nice sunshine, and I couldn’t wait to start riding though beautiful Japan again. First part was tracking back the same route as I took to get to the hotel, this time descending. It’s always interesting to see how areas can look different based on the time of day, weather and so on.
Before riding too far on a relatively empty fuel tank, I decided to fill up at the first open fuel station I came across. When arriving, it was clear it was not the biggest station, and apparently the fuel I needed to get was not yet used this day, as the handle was locked on the fuel station, which I never seen done before. After some struggling of the owners/employees to find and use the right keys, they could fill up and I could continue my ride. During the time waiting, I felt a bit awkward not helping, as I felt I couldn’t, but they managed quite fast, I was not in a hurry and I didn’t want to disrespect their effort especially as they both were not the youngest anymore.
While continuing my descend, twisting downhill though a valley with just overall nice looking nature, I entered a halve open tunnel, where a car coming opposite of my direction, was driving for a decent part on my side of the road 😱 luckily the driver saw me soon enough and corrected the car to the right lane. Probably he/she was enjoying the quite empty roads and the nice weather and view as well. Luckily as a motorcyclist, especially in a unknown country and riding on the opposite side of the road than you are used to, you are and should be more aware of your surroundings than you normally already should be.
After the descend it was time to pass though a decent size town and some relaxing flat lands, to find my way to the coastal road where the first part was mostly relatively flat and going and and out off small towns. Still the parts you could see the ocean, where beautiful with the rocks sticking out the water and such. Quite surprising for me was that on the routes on the coastlines, you see abandoned hotels/buildings, like this one on the left, too regularly in my opinion. Also practically everywhere you see plants like these growing over everything it can. This gives a special and interesting atmosphere to some parts of the road. Besides all the small observations, this route had some stunning views overall and was a joy to ride!
On several moments during this tour I came across the, as far as I know, quite typical Japanese campaign cars, with megaphones on them sharing whatever they are sharing to entire neighborhoods at once. Luckily I have my helmed on and earplugs in, as I don’t think you want to stand next to one of them without ear protection.
After arriving I unpacked, changed, and went out to have a walk to, an partially over, Amanohashidate, and also going to the Amanohashidate Viewland. I went out so fast, as I wanted to explore the area before sunset. It was more touristy than I expected, but still nice to have been and explored. I didn’t feel I had enough time to cross Amanohasidate completely, but I was content with what I was able to see.
After the walk it was time for dinner, during which I had some interesting conversations with the staff, who again were very welcoming. All made the best out of the language barrier, although everyone I spoke to could speak English quite well.
Yet another great day! Up to the next 😁
GPS stats of this day, some parts can be missing as I sometimes forgot to start the GPS logging for some time:
Distance = 177,2 km <— missed quite a bit in logging
Duration = 05:11:58 | 03:58:46 <— missed quite a bit in logging
Max Speed = 85 km/h
Avg Speed = 34.0 | 45.7 km/h
Max Altitude = 338 m
Total Ascend = 1962 m
Total Decent = 1962 m
Today I tried if the Cardo headset worked again, but it was clear, it is absolutely dead. No reason to try again… another day without spoken navigation, and that will stay so the remaining days of this tour.
The route of today mostly follows the coastline again, this time there also quite some altitude difference which resulted in nice views at both almost sea-level and higher up. And it also crossed several small coastal towns which clearly had their own vibe and my guess is that some parts are quite old.
The ride of today was not very eventful, just nice riding with enough nice views, overall just a nice route. The not very eventfulness is true besides:
I almost had a small near collision with a bird with a death wish, which is way better to nearly hit than a car like yesterday. And today I saw quite a few military vehicles riding around as I passed a military base. But that is hardly noteworthy.
When arriving at the main attraction of today, The Tottori Sand dunes, it was clear that the weather would turn to rainy within not too long. So, it was time to head onto the dunes as fast as possible. Which meant that I kept my motorcycle gear on while walking the dunes with all the loose sand, which made the walking that much more heavy than normal.
After having reached the top of the main sand dune and looking around a bit, playing the tourist, a small group of four Japanese teenagers, three girls and one guy (lucky bastard 😏😉) came walking up to me asking if they could have a picture with me, naturally I said yes, as I can imagine they don’t often see people in full motorcycle gear standing on those sand dunes 😂. Having made the picture and having had some small chitchat we all went our way.
Not long after I decided I wanted to head down to the sea-level, which, crazy as I am, I did while running down hill with big steps.
Having walked around a bit at the foot of the sand dune it was time for me to head back up again… and man… then you realize how high that sand dune really is 🥵. While struggling upwards, I saw a person also trying to get back up but hardly moved up. I went over to that person, who happened to be an American girl on holiday alone. She was really struggling, so I offered my help, which she took, and step for step with enough breaks I helped her get up and over the sand dune.
At this time the rain really started to fall, not poring rain yet, but enough to get decently wet. Luckily I brought my small umbrella with me. After arriving back at Dobi, we both went our own ways again. I wrapped myself in my rain gear and continued on with the last run towards the hotel in Misasa.
At this hotel dinner and breakfast was served in a private room like in two other locations I have stayed so far. And this hotel had the largest dinner and breakfast of the entire tour, both where hard to finish but o so tasty!! Every time I look back at the pictures, I am counting down the days until I might be able to go there again.
GPS stats of this day, some parts can be missing as I sometimes forgot to start the GPS logging for some time:
Distance = 200.1 km <— missed quite a bit in logging
Duration = 06:28:43 | 05:00:29 <— missed quite a bit in logging
Max Speed = 95 km/h
Avg Speed = 30.9 | 41.6 km/h
Max Altitude = 547 m
Total Ascend = 3291 m
Total Decent = 3256 m
Having finished my heavy breakfast, it was time for me to head out and start the days ride. Seeing some blue sky at the begin of the day gave me hope for the rest. Sadly enough not too long after I left the hotel, I was welcomed with rain again. although riding in nice weather has the preference, riding it the rain also has it’s charm. The weather gods were in my favor as it did clear up step by step.
Due to the weather and the style of road, of which a decent part was highway, I covered more distance than I expected. Even though there where some more special parts, but on average it was a reasonably relaxed point A to point B ride.
After realizing I did made decent progress with covering todays distance. I searching a bit online, and made a small detour to a viewing point (Jodojiyama Observation Deck) overlooking the city I would stay in this night. I was very happy having gone here as the view was fantastic! Nobody was there so I could just relax and enjoy the view. And the last part of riding to reach the view point parking spot was also quite fun after riding quite a bit of highway.
After this it was only about 15 minutes left to arrive at the hotel in Onomichi a very different style of hotel then all previous ones. A bit too western for my liking, but still overall a great stay as they had nice food and drinks, and shops and such were all in walking distance.
After my befor dinner walk, exploring a part of the city, I went out again, this time to head more up the hills. The paths that went up the hill were pitch black in certain parts, with every few meters a light that turned on due to movement. This in combination with the narrowness of the path itself and the distant city lights gave a beautiful but eerie vibe. The eerie vibe especially when you by chance end op walking past a cemetery in complete darkness. 😅
GPS stats of this day, some parts can be missing as I sometimes forgot to start the GPS logging for some time:
Distance = 201.1 km <— missed quite a bit in logging
Duration = 06:04:27 | 04:34:07 <— missed quite a bit in logging
Max Speed = 111.4 km/h
Avg Speed = 33.1 | 47.0 km/h
Max Altitude = 623 m
Total Ascend = 3078 m
Total Decent = 3217 m
Today is the day of island hopping using at least seven bridges: Onomichi Bridge, Innoshima Bridge, Ikuchi Bridge, Tatara Bridge, Ōmishima Bridge, Hakata-Ōshima Bridge, Kurushima Kaikyo Bridge 1, 2 and 3.
The crossing of the islands was mostly done riding highways, but due to the views and the great weather during the route the island hopping was great! Definitely different from the twisties in the mountains, fun nonetheless 🤩.
For whatever reason some recording issues came up with the insta360 X4. During riding, without me doing anything, it started a new recording file (which makes sense if it is due to file size limitations) but only during this day I have had it three times that it automatically switched files, but also stopped recording in 360, and started to only record in 180 degrees… This is something I didn’t notice while riding. As every time I started it manually everything worked fine, so I only noticed it while processing the videos after arriving back home.
If it is possible to recover the images I will reupload those videos in the future, first have to contact Insta360 for this…
Now several months later (May 2025) I finally have been able to receive one of the video files with the 180 degree error back with the 360 video recovered! To see this recovered video, go to here . The position data of this video doesn’t make any sense the first 20 seconds, but after that the video can be used like all other 360 videos I recorded.
After leaving the Kurushima Kaikyo bridges it was time to do quite some city riding before heading into the forest/mountainous areas again. This made the days ride nice and diverse, Sea views, crossing massive bridges, tunnels, city, town, forest, twisties riding. What do you want more!
Nearing the end of the route a waypoint was marked for a small museum (Heike Yashiki Museum of Folklore). as I haven’t been in a museum in Japan before, I felt it was a good chance to go to one. It was not allowed to make pictures inside, but they did have some nice antique and pieces of historical value on display. It was a short but powerful stop. If you are interested in some local history and just in general Japanese historical items, then it definitely worth having a break there and have a look.
As I still had time left before needing to arrive at the hotel, and I know due to the YouTube channel “Abroad in Japan” that there were two additional tourist sights nearby, I continue on to those two locations (Hinoji Valley – Iya River Bend Observation Point and the Statue of a Peeing Boy, I don’t know who was first making it the Belgians or this one in Japan. By chance the route there was also fun to ride!
After this small detour, it was time to head to the hotel for a well deserved bath in the indoor and outdoor onsen 😊🥵
GPS stats of this day, some parts can be missing as I sometimes forgot to start the GPS logging for some time:
Distance = 218.4 km
Duration = 06:33:36 | 04:57:47
Max Speed = 95.9 km/h
Avg Speed = 33.3 | 45.5 km/h
Max Altitude = 721 m
Total Ascend = 3469 m
Total Decent = 3101 m
Time to cover a decent distance to head over to busy Kyoto today. This day was packed with tourist spots and nice views and parts of the route. The day started with great with after about 6 minutes entering an on/off narrow road twisting through some towns, forest area, and naturally also passing the known abandoned buildings here and there again. Some times the road was so narrow it was hard to pass unexpected oncoming traffic. Wich all made me have the time of my life 😊.
Many twist and turns later I arrived in a town known as Nagoro Scarecrow Village. This was a special experience due to the many different type of scarecrows all over the place. In one way it is fun to see, in the other, it points out the declining population problem in the rural areas in Japan.
It for sure will be creepy to walk around at night when the town is probably almost pitch black… Luckily I was there during a very sunny day😊.
Next up was heading to two of the famous vine bridges! As I arrived there at 9:20 in the morning, I only came across one other person while I was walking downhill towards the bridges. This made it comfortable to just roam around in peace. It is a tourist spot but as nobody was there it had a nice atmosphere with the sunlight passing through the trees which were turning more and more towards the fall colors.
After walking back up the hill to Dobi, I needed to cool down a bit as it was a bigger climb than expected in motorcycle gear. 🥵
Cooled down and hydrated I geared up and continued my way on the 439 and 438. A piece of road was a joy to ride! Although after switching from the 439 to the 438 the surroundings changed quite a bit, as with my luck I end up in the clouds not a lot after getting on the 438 and passing a small tunnel to the other side of the mountain. And actually the clouds did create the “mysterious Japan nature” type of vide, which I do really like. So it was a nice switch from the sunny start of the day!
After descending far enough to get below the clouds, it became more clear how steep te cliffs are on the sides of the road. And when the trees cleared the view for a bit, it was clear how beautiful this entire area is. Ooh what do I love riding in the mountains!
Not long after reaching the foot of the mountain, the on and off narrow rural town/forresty roads started again, this day cannot get any better! 😊 The 438 is a decently long road which did not disappoint me by a long shot, you will see me again some day 439 and 438!
Nearing the end of the 438 I had to switch to the highway to cross the islands and bridges to reach the outskirts of Kobe. Here I sadly was not able to record the crossing of the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge as the battery of the Insta360 died on my while riding.. my memory can tell you that for a view from a bridge while riding, the view was stunning!
It took me about 35 minutes before reaching a service station on route to switch batteries. This period was luckily mostly uneventful highway riding.
I must also say I appreciate Japanese road planners, as at difficult highway traffic interchanges in some areas they mark the different routes you can take with a color. So if you know the color you have to follow, just follow it and everything will go smoothly. On interchanges like this one, these colors are quite welcome.
Nearing the hotel in Kyoto today, it was clear the box of tourists was opened. A amount of people I haven’t seen together in days were roaming around this touristic area. I tried to play the tourist again after removing my gear and heading out, but the nearby Arashiyama Monkey Park Iwatayama was already closed on my arrival. So I roamed around the other nearby sights like the Arashiyama Bamboo Forest and many shops and food corners. Everything in this area is clear to be focused on tourism, you have to like that to really enjoy it there. But for a evening it was nice to have been able to roam around there and see some of the sights.
About ten thousand steps later it was time for dinner where the food was great gain, and this time (like several other times), Sake was welcomed as a nice end to a eventful day.
GPS stats of this day, some parts can be missing as I sometimes forgot to start the GPS logging for some time:
Distance = 315.6 km
Duration = 07:41:32 | 06:11:26
Max Speed = 114 km/h
Avg Speed = 41.0 | 53.4 km/h
Max Altitude = 1410 m
Total Ascend = 4267 m
Total Decent = 4581 m
Some city riding of about 45 minutes before reaching the highway started the day off. Where after another 15 minutes more and more nature welcomed me. (and a massive bridge under construction along the way. I am so glad I don’t have to work on those altitudes and all conditions. Respect to all, and in this case the Japanese, road workers!)
Today was full of town and slight nature riding for most of the first halve of the day. With after around 2,5 hours the sart of a nice nature surrounded part came on my path. The further Dobi and I had gone today, the more fun the route became to ride. After this fun part, it was time for some rainy highway and town riding until I arrived at the beginning of the Ise-Shima Skyline this road was an unexpectedly nice surprise “almost” at the end of todays route. It had great views during the ride itself, but naturally also at the viewing point. Here I stayed for quite some time. Just roaming around a bit and enjoying the view, but also have something nice to eat before riding the last part of today.
Today I arrived at around 15:00 at the hotel, where I, after settling in my room, I checked online of what I could do here in Toba. I found out it is known for its pearls and they had a pearl museum. While walking down from the hotel to the town I came across several pearl jewelry stores. As I never seen so many pearls together I curiously looked around. As pearls are not really something for me to wear, I didn’t buy anything for myself. But I did have a long and interesting conversation with one of the store owners partially using his fancy dedicated translator device. I hope he is doing okay, and that he may go on his dream holiday to Europe soon!
He mentioned to me in the flow of the conversation that this evening a neighborhood festival was held with accommodating fireworks and performances. Not knowing that in advance, I already planned my dinner at a certain time at the hotel. Luckily I planned it well by chance as I had just about enough time to enjoy my dinner calmly, and head back down to the town to join the festival.
As this was my first every festival I have been at in Japan, it was a experience on it’s own. I was the only foreigner walking around, so I stood out the crowd for my feeling quite wel. But I was fully able to enjoy the atmosphere which I loved. I felt so lucky that I was down the hill at this festival and not just staying in the hotel. I hope I will be able to experience a festival like this again, quite small but enough people and things happening, A great atmosphere and fireworks.
What an end of the day! To this day, this entire trip and everything I have seen and experienced, and people I have met, even if it was just a short talk, all still touch me deeply.
GPS stats of this day, some parts can be missing as I sometimes forgot to start the GPS logging for some time:
Distance = 176.0 km <— missed quite a bit in logging
Duration = 05:58:58 | 04:06:34 <— missed quite a bit in logging
Max Speed = 96.4 km/h
Avg Speed = 29.4 | 44.9 km/h
Max Altitude = 578 m
Total Ascend = 3020 m
Total Decent = 3074 m,
Had a very interesting start of the day today. After leaving the hotel for a few meters I noticed something felt wrong, not long after the motorcycle itself started to give warnings that the rear tire had very low pressure.
RushCorp gave very good service, even on a Sunday morning! They arranged the JAF to come to the hotel to check if the tire could be repaired or not. Within an hour after calling RushCorp, the JAF already arrived and within 15 minutes the tire was repaired.
So I could head to the ferry from Toba to Iragocho.
Waiting for the ferry the man from the JAF came to find me on the second floor of that building (ticket office was there) to bring the tire valve cap that he forgot to put back on the repaired tire. What a service!! Going above and beyond that is clear!
During the Ferry RushCorp arranged a BMW dealer where I could go to so they could check if the repair was done well enough for continuing the ride this and the next day. All this, and the time loss caused by it, resulted in a decent deviation from the planned route.
After arriving at the docking point of the ferry it was time to continue. The route took me mostly over flat (agricultural) land and towns. Besides coming across the “neighbourhood” motorcycle group out on a Sunday ride, not a lot happened. I was also mostly paying attention to how to Dobi’s rear wheel still felt okay. As going to the BMW dealer, which was about 150km from the docking location of the ferry, was still a long way to go, and I didn’t want and hoped the tire repair would hold that long.
After leaving the BMW dealer, who checked the tire repair, and confirmed it was okay to continue on with it. I agreed with Rodger for Rushcorp to continue on the highways to be able to arrive at the hotel of the day on time and avoid possible problems on more difficult/remote roads.
Sadly enough there was another surprise waiting…. on the E68 near the Kagosaka 36 Golf Club a single car accident just happened on the other side of the road, maybe a minute before I arrived at the location. I decided as I was wearing a high visibility rain coat at that moment (which I just happened to have put on a few minutes before), to guide the traffic on my side of the road and use the motorcycle to block the path of the cars to the debris that was laying on my side of the road. One of two Japanese men at the scene of the accident called first responders and I with the other Japanese man made and kept the area safe for all traffic.
As the driver of the car who had the accident didn’t speak Japanese I stayed there as well to be able to talk with him and keep him calm/check up on him every now and then before the first responders arrived. As far as I have heard on that day, all occupants of the car in the accident were okay. The driver had some minor injury on his face, but seemed okay. (If by chance the driver reads this ever, please contact me and let me know how everything went afterwards and how you all are doing now)
After some time fire, medical and police arrived at the location. Some time after the first checks had been done on scene of the accident and the driver and family a police officer came up to me and the two Japanese man who helped. After some explanation from the two Japanese men to the officer, I received a thank you and after I asked if they needed anything from me, which they mentioned they didn’t, I was free to go and continued my way to the hotel. Which I reached safely around 17:10, being quite exhausted after a day with multiple special events and riding around 295km. Still a great day and one to remember in a different way then all others.
GPS stats of this day, some parts can be missing as I sometimes forgot to start the GPS logging for some time:
Distance = 297.0 km
Duration = 08:03:57 | 05:29:11
Max Speed = 118.4 km/h
Avg Speed = 36.8 | 57.0 km/h
Max Altitude = 1065 m
Total Ascend = 3450 m
Total Decent = 2608 m
Time for the last ride of this holiday, such a shame as I would love to do this as much as humanly possible. Sadly enough it is way too expensive to do often, but I will definitely plan another tour in Japan, and maybe other countries is possible.
This day started with a GPS which had some issues. Eventually I dried the backside contacts of the GPS and it finally worked again. This was very helpful for heading into Tokyo and being able to find my way to RushCorp as smooth as possible.
I happened to take a different route than planned but, still it went smooth enough. The part before entering Tokyo’s outskirts was a quite nice and easy goodbye to the hilly/mountain roads. I was happy to have that still as a part left on the last day of riding.
As expected Tokyo is quite busy and there are many traffic lights when going off the highway. As the GPS mentioned I should ride that way, I just did, as in no way I would have been able to just randomly, on my own feeling, find my way to RushCorp. Even though I normally have quite a decent sense of direction. Tokyo is just too large, busy and unknown for me to find my way on a motorcycle without any navigation.
GPS stats of this day, some parts can be missing as I sometimes forgot to start the GPS logging for some time:
Distance = 142.8 km
Duration = 05:05:44 | 03:18:18
Max Speed = 105.3 km/h
Avg Speed = 28.0 | 45.0 km/h
Max Altitude = 1111 m
Total Ascend = 1881 m
Total Decent = 2717 m
For my stay in Tokyo I arranged two accommodations, one a relatively newly build Airbnb in Shinjuku City , and the other a hotel, Yoshitsuki Hotel in Asakusa, Taito City. Where the Airbnb was a neat but I guess quite typical small Tokyo apartment, and the hotel was a enormous compared to the Airbnb. Both were comfortable to stay, and in my opinion, good locations to explore Tokyo from.
Even though I am not a fan of cities/city trips in general I quite enjoyed roaming around Tokyo. I have been lucky to have been able to meet and talk to all kinds of people. Like some locals in a very local feeling Izakaya in Asakusa, a girl from South Korea traveling alone for the first time outside of her country, Ainu people running a Izakaya in Shinjuku, and quite a few other encounters with random strangers. Next to that I also came across quite a few unexpected events, like several neighborhood festivals, live music at near Sensō-ji temple and so on.
Also Rodgers wife and son took me too visit the nearby Torinoichi Fair at the Ōtori Shrine and after that we had some drinks and bites in Hoppy Street ホッピー通り
By looks during the time I was in Tokyo, I liked to look of the city itself the most when it was dark outside. It has a quite special atmosphere to it compared to other cities I have been to. During the day it is also special in it’s own way, but more like “the average city” compared to at night. For me definitely the best time to roam around and explore.
Also the liveliness during sunny days in the many different parks scattered in and around the Tokyo metropolitan area was great to be in, especially the parks which are not really visited by (many) tourists I really enjoyed going to.
This also brings me to the neighborhoods I liked the most to roam around in from the ones I have been to: as a tourist I felt certain areas of Asakusa/Taito city were the best, way better in my opinion than Shinjuku, Shibuya and Akihabara. If I would want to live in Tokyo, I as far as I know now, I would choose for somewhere in or near Nihonbashihamacho. Easy to get everywhere, has a nice park near the river (which is also nice to walk/sit by), not many tourists and so on. It feels somewhat like a cosy/relaxed neighborhood even with the large buildings and the still “I am in a city” look.
All and all a great time! Just like with the motorcycle tour part of this holiday, I cannot wait to go back. I only hope that the mountain of tourists coming to visit Japan, will not damage everything Japan is known and loved for.
If by chance anyone I have met during my holiday in Japan reads this, I hope you are all doing well, and I hope we will be able to meet again some day!
Mobile phone step counter stats of these days:
Total Distance = 189.53 km
Avg Distance/day = 17.23 km
Total steps = 256243
Avg steps/day = 23295
